§ 11. Mr. GILBERTasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of 2730 Food whether, as the Parliamentary Secretary stated at Oxford, we must cut down our consumption of breadstuffs by one-third, while the Director-General of Food Economy, writing to the Press, only asks for a reduction of 20 per cent., he will, in view of the importance of the subject, make an authoritative statement as to which figure is correct, so that the public may carry out the wishes of the Department?
Captain BATHURSTThe meeting in question was composed mainly of well-to-do persons. In dealing with the relation between the stocks of breadstuffs in the country and on passage, I suggested, on my own responsibility, that there should for the present be an average decrease in consumption by one-third to secure absolute safety; but I went on to say that the reduction must be greater in the case of well-to-do persons of all classes who could afford substitutes, and of persons engaged in sedentary work whose requirements of starchy food were far less than those of manual workers. In view of the uncertainty of supplies from overseas, no figure can be regarded as continuously correct. The Food Controller's statement in the House of Lords last Wednesday may be taken to be the most authoritative, as it is, indeed, the most recent, guide to his wishes in the matter. Returns received from the Master Bakers' Association show that in the areas to which they refer the average consumption of breadstuffs per head in March was 6 lbs. per week and not 4lbs., as suggested by the Food Controller.